Colorado College swept the awards at the first ACM Film Festival, held at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Of the 150 submissions received, 38 films by CC students or recent alumni were accepted — and 13 of the 38 were nominated for “best of” awards. CC filmmakers went on to take first place in each of the five categories as well as second runner-up in the “Best of the Midwest.”

CC filmmakers won awards for:

Best of the Midwest, 1st place: “Barkley 100” by Brendan Young ’14

Best of the Midwest, 2nd runner up: “Solo” by Thomas Crandall ’16, Andrew DesLauriers ’16, and Elle Gannon ’18

Social Impact: “Turning Point” by Charles Theobald ’17

Production Value: “Black Forest” by Robert Mahaffie ’15

Original Concept: “XO” by Kaitlyn Hickmann ’18, 
Georgia Griffis ’18, and Corrina Leatherwood ’18

Best Screenplay: “Dog Days” by Malcolm Barnes ’15, Charley Bayley ’15, and Dillon Tanner ’15

Five students took a red-eye flight from Los Angeles, where they were taking a Block 7 class on filmmaking in Hollywood, to Appleton, proof of their dedication to filmmaking.